Jeremy Rassen

Current Position

Title: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Co-Founder Company: Aetion, Inc. (Datavant subsidiary as of July 2025) Location: New York, New York, United States

Professional Background

Jeremy Rassen is an epidemiologist and computer scientist with over 25 years of experience in causal inference, artificial intelligence, and real-world evidence analytics. He combines deep scientific expertise from Harvard's epidemiological tradition with software engineering acumen developed early in his career at a Silicon Valley CRM pioneer. His career trajectory reflects a consistent mission: applying rigorous scientific methods to unlock insights from real-world healthcare data that drive clinical and regulatory decisions.

Dr. Rassen co-founded Aetion in 2013 to pursue a vision of technology that provides "the speed, scale and rigor required to answer high-stakes questions in healthcare." Under his leadership, Aetion has expanded to serve 18 of the 20 top global pharmaceutical companies and has become a leading platform for generating decision-grade real-world evidence. His perspective integrates academic rigor with pragmatic business understanding—he views healthcare data not as a research curiosity but as a critical asset for making life-or-death treatment decisions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rassen led Aetion's collaborations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), helping shape how real-world evidence informed public health decisions at scale. More recently, he championed Aetion's strategic acquisition by Datavant (announced May 2025), positioning himself as a leader willing to pursue larger strategic visions that extend the reach of evidence-based decision-making across the healthcare ecosystem.

Career Timeline

Education

• Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science, Harvard University
• Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Public Presence

Social Media

Note: LinkedIn profile shows 500+ connections and 4K followers; primarily focused on professional and industry updates.

Published Writings

• "Real-world evidence: the future is here" — Pharmaphorum (2018+)
• "Using Real World Evidence to Accelerate Development and Impact of Treatments" — Outcomes Rocket podcast feature (2018)
• "AI, RWE, and the Future of Biopharma: Aetion in Scrip Asks" — Scrip Intelligence feature (2024+)
• "The epidemiology of databases: Four principles of generating RWE" — Aetion Evidence Hub blog series
• Multiple peer-reviewed publications on real-world evidence methodology, propensity score analysis, and healthcare database epidemiology
• Co-authored research on "The Role of Real-World Evidence in FDA-Approved New Drug and Biologics License Applications"

Public Speaking

• "Developing Decision-Grade Real-World Evidence" — ISPOR 2024, 2021, and other ISPOR conferences (short course instructor)
• 2025 ISPE Annual Meeting presentation
• DIA 2019 Global Annual Meeting speaker
• Multiple industry conference appearances focused on real-world evidence, healthcare analytics, and the future of treatment evaluation

Communication Style

Tone: Formally professional yet visionary; balanced between academic rigor and practical business language. Rassen communicates with the authority of a subject matter expert but avoids jargon-heavy presentation when addressing broader audiences.

Recurring themes: Real-world evidence as a transformative force in healthcare decision-making; the intersection of causal inference and artificial intelligence; democratizing access to high-quality evidence; answering three core questions: "which treatments work, for whom, and what should we pay for them?" Data as a strategic asset and moral imperative for healthcare systems.

Notable positions: Strong advocate for FDA adoption of real-world evidence standards; believer in technology-enabled, evidence-driven healthcare; positioned as a thought leader on the limitations and opportunities of observational healthcare data; emphasizes the need for rigorous methodology to reduce bias in real-world studies.

Jeremy Rassen's communication reflects his unique position as both an academic epidemiologist and a healthcare technology entrepreneur. He articulates the vision of real-world evidence not as a replacement for clinical trials but as a complementary tool that answers questions randomized controlled trials cannot efficiently address at scale. His statements tend to frame challenges pragmatically—discussing how technology can solve the practical barriers to evidence generation—while grounding claims in methodological rigor. When discussing Aetion's Datavant acquisition, he emphasized the "bold step toward realizing our shared vision," framing strategic moves as expressions of larger missions rather than purely commercial transactions. His communication to investors, regulators, and clinical audiences varies in technical depth but maintains consistent core themes around speed, scale, and rigor.

Notable Achievements

• Co-founded Aetion in 2013 and grew it to serve 18 of 20 top global pharmaceutical companies
• Led Aetion through FDA collaborations that shaped real-world evidence adoption during COVID-19 pandemic
• Pioneered advanced methods for causal inference and bias reduction in observational healthcare research
• Established Aetion as the leading commercial platform for decision-grade real-world evidence generation
• Negotiated successful acquisition by Datavant (announced May 2025), positioning Aetion as a cornerstone of Datavant's end-to-end RWE platform
• Developed proprietary methodologies for propensity score analysis and healthcare database epidemiology
• Regular faculty member for ISPOR's intermediate-level course on developing decision-grade real-world evidence
• Fellow and board member of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (FISPE credential)

Key Relationships

• Co-founder & Senior Advisor: Sebastian Schneeweiss, M.D., Sc.D. (Harvard Medical School faculty, co-founder of Aetion)
• Board relationships: Christophe Berthoux, D.V.M. (Aetion Executive Chair, formerly CEO of NAMSA); Carolyn Magill (transitioned from Aetion CEO to Senior Advisor); Tom Peterson and Cathy Polinsky (Board Directors)
• Investor/advisor network: Flare Capital Partners (listed as advisor/leadership profile)
• Academic network: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health epidemiology faculty and alumni
• Industry partnerships: 18 of 20 leading global pharmaceutical companies rely on Aetion's platform; FDA collaboration during pandemic response
• Strategic partner: Datavant (parent company as of July 2025), positioned to expand RWE capabilities across healthcare ecosystem

Information Availability Assessment

Overall availability: High

Jeremy Rassen maintains a significant public professional profile through LinkedIn, speaking engagements at industry conferences (ISPOR, ISPE, DIA), published articles and interviews, and company leadership visibility. His background as both an academic researcher and healthcare entrepreneur means his professional information is well-documented across both academic and business channels. Company press releases, conference speaker bios, and industry publication interviews provide substantial insight into his vision and communication style. His recent CEO appointment (January 2025) and the Datavant acquisition announcement (May 2025) generated significant press coverage with direct quotes. Primary information gaps relate to proprietary business details and personal life information, which is appropriate given the professional focus of this profile.